On this occasion, Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President and Chief Executive of the Group said that this year’s symposium will discuss a number of topics and themes and they are:
1. Zakat: where in this subject will address the issue of the distinction between stock Zakat acquiring for the purpose of development and those which are acquiring for trading or for both purposes, and measuring the stock Zakat on crops and fruits Zakat, and the judgment in the case the company did not achieve profit with the availability of Zakat funds, with other important issues in this subject.
2. Dealing in Gold and Silver: this topic covers a number of issues such as: to own and titling of gold through the delivery of certificates representing certain amounts of it, trading in the global gold market by warrant holding, provisions of the purchase and sale of shares of a company engaged in the fields of gold and silver mining.. etc.
3. Participations: this will address important issues in participatory transactions, such as the trade-off between debit and participations contracts, and legitimate means applicable in accordance with prevailing regulations to reduce the risk of participations and others.
4. Investment by Agency: This theme covers some important issues relating to investment by agency such as: determine the expected profit and the failure of agent to achieve it and the agency contract in which it require to make a profit for at least a certain percentage, etc..
Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif said that this year’s Symposium completed its thirty-fourth session and has passed on its first meeting more than a quarter of a century, as the first Al Baraka Symposium was held in Medina during the period from 17-20 Ramadan 1403, corresponding to 27-30 June 1981, and achieved a large part of its goals of: finding economic solutions to the problems faced by Muslim communities by drawing these solutions from Islamic economy as theory and system, encouraging scientific research in the field of Islamic Economics, connecting jurisprudence with our contemporary economic issues, enriching the banking jurisprudence with in-depth discussions and new fatwas issued by reputable scholars, and assisting in the development of Islamic financial products in addition to other targets, expressing his deep happiness and satisfaction with what has been achieved so far.
He added, “I am pleased on this occasion to thank and praise the Chairman of ABG HE Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, for the adoption, management, financing and direct supervision on this Symposium throughout this period until achieving all this success. I also extend my sincere thanks and praise to scholars, researchers, executives and employees in Islamic banking who have had the great merit after God Almighty in the construction of this big edifice as it was for their efforts the best effect in the success of this work, also I commend the efforts of institutions that support the Islamic banking and the units of ABG, which provided us with their important experiments, subjects and issues to be discussed in this symposium. I also would like to thank the organizing committee for their efforts which resulted in this great work.”
It is noteworthy that the ABG has traditionally organize this seminar annually with the broad participation of the owners of Virtue, scholars, experts in Islamic Economics, and well-known bankers from both Islamic and international levels in order to reach a set of recommendations and fatwas that contribute to enrich and rationalize the Islamic Banking and pose successful solutions to the problems facing its practicality. The discussions of this seminar were attended by more than a thousand people from central bank officials in Muslim countries, CEOs and general managers of Islamic banks and financial institutions, and researchers interested in the Islamic economy and Islamic banking in different parts of the world.
The opening session of the symposium will be addressed by HE Sheikh Saleh Abdullah Kamel, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Mr. Adnan Ahmed Yousif, President and Chief Executive, with the participation for the first time a number of well-known scholars in the field of Islamic banking, in addition to a number of senior executives in Islamic banks and institutions, who will comment on these subjects such as Dr. Ahmad Khaled Babacar – Secretary General of the Islamic Fiqh Council, Mr. Abdul Baset Shaibi – CEO of Qatar International Islamic Bank, Mr. Abdul Razak Khuraiji – Executive Vice President and Head of the Islamic Banking Development Group in the National Commercial Bank and Dr. Saleh Malaekakh – CEO of Rasad Bank.
Al Baraka Banking Group is a Bahrain Joint Stock Company Licensed as an Islamic Wholesale Bank by Central Bank of Bahrain, listed on Bahrain Bourse and Nasdaq Dubai stock exchanges. It is a leading international Islamic bank providing its unique services to around one billion people and with Standard and Poors investment grade long term counterparty credit rating of BBB- / A-3 (Short Term). Al Baraka offers retail, corporate, treasury and investment banking services, strictly in accordance with the principles of the Islamic Shari’a. The authorized capital of Al Baraka is $1.5bn, while total equity amounts to about $2bn.
The Group has a wide geographical presence in the form of subsidiary banking Units and representative offices in fifteen countries, which in turn provide their services through more than 450 branches. Al Baraka is currently having a strong presence in Jordan, Tunisia, Sudan, Turkey, Bahrain, Egypt, Algeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Lebanon, Syria, Indonesia, Libya, Iraq and Saudi Arabia.